Hull, Schroder claim seconds at Fort Dodge

FORT DODGE — Newton senior’s Koby Hull and Ray Schroder worked through to the championship matches of their respective weights at Saturday’s Fort Dodge High’s Don Miller Invitational. In both matches, it was No. 1 seed against No. 2 seed.

The two Cardinals left with a medal — not the one they really wanted but second is not bad at the tough tournament.

Hull won three straight matches on the mat at 106 to advance to the title match. He pinned Britany Logsdon of Sioux City East in 25 seconds then went 3:39 with Walt Long of Bondurant-Farrar before landing the win by fall.

In his semifinal match, Hull pulled out a 10-8 decision over Christian Findley of Blue Springs South of Missouri. Hull faced Tristan Lara of Fort Dodge in the final and was pinned in 2:38. Hull is ranked fifth in 3A and Lara is at No. 4.

Schroder, who is ranked seventh in Class 3A, earned a first-round bye in the 195-pound bracket. He turned Nick Hindt of Fort Dodge St. Edmond for the pin in 3:58 in their quarterfinal match. Schroder went the full six minutes with eighth-ranked Fort Dodge’s Riley Prescott, winning 3-1 in the semifinals.

Schroder tangled with Dylan Fielder of Webster City. Fielder is ranked No 5 in Class 2A at 195. Fielder defeated Schroder 5-1 for the 195-pound championship.

Newton scored 73 points with seven wrestlers and placed 11th in the field of 16 teams. Webster City won the team championship with 213 points followed by Fort Dodge with 158 points and Council Bluffs Lewis Central was third with 154 points. Blue Springs South came from Missouri and Thunderidge is out of Colorado.

“I was happy with the group we took to Fort Dodge. They wrestled pretty well and got a good taste of competitive wrestling before going into the break,” said Andy Swedenhjelm, Newton head coach.

Senior Joey Wright placed fifth in the 220-pound division. He opened the tournament with a pin of Daniel McKinney of LeMars in 40 second. Webster City’s Gustavo Gasco pinned Wright in 5:02.

The Cardinal senior turned it around in the consolation bracket, winning three straight. Wright beat Jesse Wolver of Storm Lake, 7-0. He pinned Brook Stephens of Clarinda in 1:14 then won the fifth-place match with a 6-3 decision over Christian Heimer of Ankeny Centennial.

Brett Wolf, a junior, finished sixth at 145 pounds. Wolf lost 9-6 to Clarinda’s Trey Stickler in the opening round. In consolation bracket action, Wolf claimed three straight by pins to reach the fifth-place match. He pinned Grant Nehring of Ankeny Centenniall, Colton Jewett of Sioux City East and Cody Beck of LeMars. Wolf lost to Clarinda’s Stickler, 9-3, in the fifth-place match.